Stargate: Candle in the dark
by GoldBee
Summary: While Atlantis is still on Earth and with no power to return to the Pegasus, a help shows up on their doorstep. Her name is Lara and there is something misterious about her. Story set few monts after Enemy at the Gate. Mostly SG-1 with some SGA-1.
1. Chapter 1

_**So this is my first fan-fic. I am doing my best with the grammar, because of English not being my first language.  
I hope you will enjoy the story. And remember – reviews inspire me as all of the other writers **____****_

I don't own Stargate and its characters. It all belongs to MGM.

_This is chapter 1 re-uploaded._

"Well it is already third month since we are on Earth and I will say it aloud – it's boring"-said Rodney McKay.

"It's not our fault that we saved Earth and used up our ZPM's"-Sheppard sarcastically answered chewing his roasted chicken.

"Yes, Rodney. We all want to get back, especially I, but it is not possible before we figure out how to get another two ZPM's"- Teyla signified.

"Why don't you visit your folks"-Ronon said quietly with full mouth with chicken.

"I already did. "Hi, how are you, I am fine, I have secret job to do, give a greeting to my sister. See you some other day.""-Rodney sharply said back to him, "My folks are not persons I like to be with. They don't know me anymore. Remember? I lost contact with them when I took this job. I mean I already had bad relationships with them because they didn't want to allow me to attend my science lessons after the sixth grad experiment in which I built a nuclear bomb-"

"Yes, Rodney, we all know_ that_ story" Sheppard interrupted.

"Yes, yes, of course you do" he snapped back. "I just wish that there would be something that could get us a Zed-P-M." He added.

At that moment Dr. Jackson stepped close to their table.

"On that point, there may as well be" He said with a little smile on his face. "We received a communication from a neutral person. She said that she doesn't belong to any community and is on her own. Landry already sent out a team to check if her intel is reliable"

"What?" Rodney said in a half scream. "What are you talking about? Who is "she". What intel? What about Zed-P-M's?"

"Is "she" hot?" Sheppard added with a smirk on his face. Jackson just gave him on of the tell-you-later looks.

Jackson continued "Yesterday we got a message. It said "_I know about your problems. No ZPM – no power. Atlantis looks well, Pegasus, not so. Wraith are growing in strength. More and more are culled. Don't ask me how I know it. I just do. I mean no harm. You need help, I am help. We can make a deal. Send a team to P2X-325 and see for yourself. Sorry I couldn't come in person. Having a little problem on my own. See you soon, Lara."_

_Thanks for reading. __  
Reviews make my day _


	2. Chapter 2

_**Chapter 2**_

_**So chapter 2 is up. Sorry it's so short. Hope you enjoy it! As always reviews are very much appreciated. **_

Although the IOA did not want them to check the situation out, Landry somehow managed to get the mission approved. SG-1 and Sheppard went to P2X-325. At first the planet looked normal. Flora and fauna was pretty much the same as on Earth. The only difference was that there were three moons. One of them was very close. The view was beautiful and amazing, but they had no time to stand and stare. They had a time limit. For Sheppard it was strange to be on a mission with SG-1. Although Teyla and Ronon were allowed to come, they preferred to stay within Atlantis. Rodney was a different matter. As soon as they got to Earth, he was assigned to do all possible to get Atlantis back on track. The city had suffered a lot. There were many damaged areas and almost no power so the repairs took even longer. By now he was almost sure that if he had enough power he could bring the hyper drive back online. The shields were another matter. He claimed that they worked perfectly, but naquada generators weren't enough to power them up. If there would be a ZPM, even with a little bit of power it would do the thing. But there were no ZPM's. Not even a one.

So here they were. Waiting for mysterious Lara to show up. Who was she? How did she know about Atlantis's situation? Strange, but the IOA and SGC allies had no information on her.

As Sheppard emerged from his thoughts they had reached the destination on the planet they were supposed to meet at. No one was there. He only heard birds and something that sounded like monkeys. Funny how this planet resembled the Earth. Except for the monkeys.

Suddenly a beam of light surrounded them. It looked like someone was scanning them. At that moment things got strange. All of their weapons, even the side arms were beamed away. They only had their radios on them.

"What the hell" Mitchell took words out of Sheppard's mind.

"From my knowledge this is usually the part when we get struck by a stunners and abducted in very ugly and painful wa-" that was all Sheppard managed to say before they all were beamed away.

The next thing they saw was the huge room. It had a big window and in front of it and in the middle of the room a single person sat in a chair that looked very much like an ancient control chair. The room was huge and at the sides it had all sorts of control panels. The design was mostly ancient, but there were traces of some earth technology. Sheppard recognized the console from the Daedalus. The color of the room was gray and white. This reminded Sheppard the time he was stuck on the Aurora few years ago.

The woman was another matter. She looked very intelligent. He could tell from the way she was reading the small PDA in her hand. She had dark brown hair and he could see that her eyes were ocean blue. She wore black uniform that looked kind of military. Her face was dark. Sheppard could tell that he would not want to run in to her on a dark street in cold winter night. She was studying the readings not looking up at them. Sheppard was still a little bit stunned from the sudden beaming. Finally the woman looked at them, put her PDA at her side and stood up.

"Hello" she said in very warm, but firm voice. "I'm Lara. Welcome to the Embassy" she said, gestured to the room with her hand.

And suddenly everything went black. Last thing Sheppard saw when he hit the floor was a thin silhouette approaching them very fast.

_**Thanks for reading ;) I'll update as soon as I can. **___


	3. Chapter 3

_**So, chapter 3 is up. I hope it's good. I tried to do my best with the grammar and the plot.  
Enjoy and of course reviews are very much appreciated **_____

Daniel awoke with a jolt. His head hurt and his vision was blurry. He was still in the same room. Presumably, the bridge. He tried to get up, but his legs felt numb. What the hell was happening? The lights were dim and the woman was nowhere to be seen.

When he tried to move again, the pain was still there, but he managed to sit up. As he did so, the woman – Lara came through the door.  
"Well, I see you have finally awaked" she said "Took you long enough" she seemed irritated.

"What happened?" Daniel asked with his senses gradually coming back.

"Subspace beaming. The first time always is the worst. Tell you what; I had a headache for a week after my first time. It took tons of painkillers to get it away. Luckily you were unconscious for only 3 hours"

"3 hours?" Daniel asked when understood that they were late for scheduled check up with SGC.

"Don't worry. I sent them a message that we are running a negotiation." She said with a firm voice. "Not that there is a need for one."

"Why have you kidnapped us?"  
"Kidnapped?" Lara sounded surprised "I did not kidnap you. Technically."

"Well, lets look at the facts." He held up his hand "First, you asked us to talk. It was okay as long as you didn't beam us away!" he said loudly. "You asked us to a planet. Not a ship!"

"No. I said nothing about the place of the meeting. I said I wanted to meet you. I didn't say where. So technically this is still our meeting, only in different place."

"Yeah well, still. What do you want?"

"It's not what I want. It's what you need."  
"Well, right now I need to know where the others are and why have you taken us" he sounded really mad now. "And also I wouldn't say no to a glass of coke and a slice of pizza" he added rather sarcastically.

"Hey, hey" she said "Lets not get mean, okay? Let me finish, then I'll take you to the others."

Daniel nodded. The thought of getting her angry didn't seem very good.

"So, Atlantis doesn't have the power needed to power it up. Do you have any idea what's going on in Pegasus? Have you actually visited Pegasus lately?" she hesitated waiting an answer from him.

"Well, no. We have our own problems with Lucian Alliance. We kind of didn't have time or ships. Daedalus and Apollo are still in repairs and Odyssey and Hammond are needed here."

"Well, I understand that." She said with a now concerned face "After the battle with the advanced Hive ship your ships were in pretty bad shape…"

"My point exactly. So, do you know what is happening or what?" he said slightly annoyed. This woman had a rather bad and long way for getting to the point. "So what's your point?"

"My point is I have been to Pegasus lately. The situation is very, _very_ bad. The Wraith are at full alert. They knew that except for Atlantis there was nothing stopping them, but now when Atlantis is gone… You cannot imagine what is happening there."

She talked firmly and looking in his eyes. "The Wraith cull for fun. They kill and feed without a need. They do it for fun!" she threw her hands in the air "People are dieing as we speak." Then she added quietly "Well, as I speak"

Daniel interrupted, "I know that as the Atlantis left we left many worlds undefended. But there was nothing we could do; Earth was still our primary planet."

He knew that it was a big risk when Atlantis left. He very often thought about what was happening. Despite the fact that he didn't know many people that were at risk right now he felt very sorry for them. He couldn't imagine what people who lived on Atlantis and interacted with those left behind felt.

"I know" she interrupted his thoughts "I know. When I was there, I did my best to show the Wraith that I can defend some of the people. That there are someone still defending those in need, but even Embassy couldn't take on more than 5 Hive ships." Her face turned sad and very, very serious. "They travel in groups of Hives. There are usually 4 or more Hives together at all times. As you did grate job with Queen elimination, there aren't many left. Last time I heard, there were 3 left who could act, and some still hid in the shadows."

"So, I'll ask again. What do you need us for" Daniel was getting anxious now. He had to tell the others about the intel just provided.

"I need you, to help me find a planet. I have your entire Cheyenne Mountain database and don't ask me how. What I don't have is the Asgard database. There are planets there I need to see so I could find a device. A device that will come to be very handy in future."

"What device?" Daniel had no idea what she was talking about.

"A device that might just save all of your troubles and people in Pegasus" she said "When I found this ship, it had a big database on Ancient technology. The database included many discoveries and technology you haven't yet encountered. One such device is the Pandora's box."

"Pandora's box is a myth. We haven't seen anything that would connect it to Ancients" Daniel said remembering the Pandora's story.

"Well, I have a proof. It's and Ancient device." As she said the last two words a spark flared up in her eyes. "Do you have any idea what does the device do?" she asked

"No, this is the first time I've ever heard of something like that." When Daniel said that he tried to get up. He still felt dizzy, but he couldn't sit on the floor anymore. Lara rushed over from the control panel she was standing at to help. "Come sit here" she rushed him to the control chair. "Sorry, but guest quarters are off limits. I suffered a bad battle last week"

"The control chair. I won't sit on that thing." Daniel said as he recalled that this was what controlled Atlantis.

"Don't worry. It only responds to my DNA." She said and handed him a water bottle.

Daniel looked at it with suspicious look and then at her.

"Don't worry. I'm not trying to poison you. If I wanted you dead I would have found some more interesting way." When Lara understood what she was saying she corrected herself "Now don't get the wrong idea. I'm not some kind of killer freak. I just have very good and colourful imagination"

"Okay." Daniel said still a bit stunned thinking about her 'colourful imagination'. "You said something about a device"

"Yes, back to the point." She turned and walked closer to the front of the bridge "The legend of Pandora's Box says that Pandora was given a box, or a jar. The Box contained all the evils and when Pandora opened the box all the evils were released; only Hope was left."

"Yes, that's the legend of Pandora, but we haven't made or even tried to make a connection between it and the Ancients."

"I know. So, the way I read it from my database Pandora was an Ancient scientist. She was the one who created the legend. The Box is a device for making ZPM's." she said.

"It's impossible. Only Ancients can make ZPM's. Maybe it's just a storage or something like that." Daniel said recalling all the times McKay was talking about the scientific side of ZPM's and how impossible it was to make or re-charge one.

"Not a storage. If we have time I'll show you the full details. It says that it is a device. And every evil represents 3 ZPM's. Just as many needed to fully power Atlantis. The only bad thing is that only Hope was left."

"And that means that we would be able to make only 3 ZPM's" Daniel finished her thought.

"I know it's a blind shot. The database I'm relying on is very and I mean _very_ old. It was last time updated just before Atlantis left the Earth."

"Well, I hope that the device is still unharmed." Daniel said thinking about how to present this discovery to Landry and the IOA.

"I would have done the search on my own and then just given the ZPM's to you, but I wasn't able to hack Odyssey's database. The security measures for the Asgard core are very impressive."

"Yeah, well you could've just asked"

"That's what I did. So, we are about 20 minutes from Earth now. I set the auto pilot to drop out at the dark side of the Moon. Then I'll set the cloak and go closer. We should now get all your military men conscious and you should tell them that I mean no harm. You came pretty well armed for a simple meeting."

"Well, we have had some pretty bad experiences so you really can't blame us"

"Yeah, I know. Come, I'll show you where the rest of your people are."

As she led Daniel through the many corridors of the ship Lara was telling him about the Ancient database on her ship. She told him about what it contained. From what he understood it was big. Like the one Atlantis had, only with information that dated long before Atlantis was created.

Daniel still had a bad headache, but it was getting better. He was amazed about the big ship. While walking he didn't see any living person which suggested that she was controlling the ship on her own. Lara seemed to be very experienced and she looked in her early thirties. He didn't know much about the woman, but he hoped he would get to know her better. She knew a lot about Ancients and claimed to have her own database. And ship.

Daniel started to think about what he would say to Mitchell, Sheppard and others. There was a lot of information to process and the IOA would want a full report in a short period of time, but if the info would turn out to be correct and the device real they would have a real means of powering up Atlantis. If the IOA would authorise such mission and let them find the device. There were many 'ifs' but if they would turn out to be successful and the ZPM's real, everything would get back to normal and Atlantis would be able to return to Pegasus.

_TBC…_


	4. Chapter 4

_So, here is chapter 4. I will try and write chapter 5 as soon as I can, but the Half Term is coming to an end, which means that I will have to focus on my studies more. I'll do my best to update at the middle of the next week _

Mitchell awoke with a headache. He saw all his men lying around him. Teal'c was already sitting up. As Mitchell started to get up Teal'c came over to help.

"Colonel Mitchell" he said in his usual voice "I am glad you are finally awake. I do not know what happened"

"Well, I think it might be connected to our new friend who abducted us"

As Mitchell got to his feet Sheppard started to move slowly. "What the hell happened" he said his voice feeling weak. Also his head hurt.

"Well" Mitchell said "I think the Lara character abducted us. I don't know what kind of stunner she used, but it was strong as hell. I'm not the only one with a headache am I?" he asked looking at the ones that had already awaked.

"No, you're not" Sheppard agreed.

"Indeed" Teal'c responded.

As the rest of the military men started to move Mitchell finally got to his feet and moved closer to the door of the room. The room was square, with few boxes at the far side of it. He moved closer to the door and tried to open it. The door beeped silently, but nothing happened.

"Hey, does anyone know how to open this thing?" he asked full of hope. All he got for response was confused looks from men who were just coming back to their senses.

Sheppard and Teal'c got up and moved to help him.

They tried to open the door manually, but nothing happened.

"I guess they are air tight" Sheppard finally announced. "So we're stuck. Anyone has any ideas?" he looked around the room "Anyone?" when he got nothing in response he moved closer to Mitchell and Teal'c. "We have to think of something."

"Hey, has anyone seen Jackson?" Mitchell asked when he didn't see his team mate.

"He is not with us" Teal'c said still looking around the room.

Mitchell and the others turned their backs to the door and looked at the two marines getting up. Jackson was nowhere to be seen.

"I guess our abductor took him" Sheppard said.

As he said it the door opened and Jackson walked in together with Lara.

"How many times do I have to say that I did not abduct you!" Lara exclaimed making them shift and look at the door. "I simply changed the place of our meeting".

"Then why did you stun us?" Sheppard asked touching his head.

"The loss of consciousness was a result of subspace beaming"

"You mean hyperspace" Mitchell said like stating the obvious.

"No" she said like just holding back "I mean subspace. It's faster than hyperspace, but it takes getting used to it. You haven't got til' that phase yet."

"Okay, let's just drop this subject. We have more important matters to attend" Daniel caught in between them. "She explained everything. Don't worry. We're safe. At least that's what I think" He said turning to Lara. She just nodded.

At that moment her PDA beeped. "We're here. The dark side of the moon. I'll go and prepare for beaming you down." She said and turned back to leave.

"Wait" Daniel said "Aren't you coming wit us?"

"You're kidding? Of course not. If I go down now I'll probably get arrested and interrogated. I'll let you explain everything first and then when it's safe I'll get myself there." She said and left.

Five minutes later Daniel, Mitchell, Sheppard and the others entered the bridge. Lara sat in her chair and looked at the holographic screen in front of the chair. "I'm ready to beam" she simply said. "Contact me when the air is clear" she said and gave Daniel an Ancient crystal. "Put this data in and it will open a secure channel."

"Okay" he said "I guess see you later." He managed to say before they were beamed away.

After a long and exhausting medical check up Daniel made it to the conference room. He then looked around the room to see Landry, Sheppard, some IOA representative and all that remained from the original SG-1 team sitting and chatting around. Well, everyone was chatting except for Teal'c who was at his usual and the IOA guy who sat uncomfortably waiting for the briefing to start. Since when did the IOA were present in so many meetings?

He cleared his throat and suddenly all the attention was focused on him. Not that he wasn't used to it, but this time was different. It really would have been much easier if Lara would have been here. She would have known all the small details, but apparently she felt quite paranoid with coming here now. So he started his presentation.

He told them the legend of Pandora's Box first. Just so the others would recall the myth. Then he started to tell the details Lara told him. How Pandora was a scientist and what The Box could do and what it really was. How it represented all the evils and what would it mean if the information would be correct.

"But how can you know that it is truth? We have never seen or heard about Pandora being connected to the Ancients" Landry seemed unconvinced with his theory.

"Well General, many ancient Earth stories have been real like"

Sheppard interrupted "Atlantis"

"Or Camelot" Mitchell continued.

"See," Daniel continued his point "There is a big chance that Pandora was actually an Ancient, and The Box a device" Daniel finished his thought.

"I see" Landry finally said breaking the silence that fell when Daniel stopped talking. "This sounds very intriguing, but can we trust the source? I mean is she really who she says she is?"

Daniel said with a confident voice "I believe she is telling the truth. I mean… the parts of the ship and the technique she used to control it was Ancient. She told me she had an old Ancient database that pre-dated Atlantis and she seemed to know the details of this matter very well. I think we can trust her."

General Landry seemed to rethink and go back to all details in his head. It wasn't the first time he had to make a tough decision to either trust or not in a complete stranger. The things that convinced him were that Dr. Jackson was feeling confident and the fact that Atlantis really needed those ZPM's. Also he was pretty sure that her intel on Pegasus was correct.

After a silence that felt like hours he made a decision. "Okay. Ask her down here. Say that we will not do anything to harm her and I will only talk to her. No interrogation." As he said the last two words he shot a warning look to Mr Jefferson, the IOA representative. "May I talk to you in my office?" he said to the man. "Everyone else dismissed. Dr. Jackson, as soon as she has past her medical check up, send her to my office please."

As Landry and all others stood up Daniel rushed out of the conference room and started to make his way to Bill Lee's office. As he approached it he took out the crystal from his pocket. Bill was sitting at his desk looking at his laptop with a coffee mug on the table.

Daniel approached him and handed the crystal. Bill took it and started to look for cables to connect it to his computer. As he did so, Daniel started to feel confident about this new ally. If he was right about her and everything would go as predicted, then in a very short time they would have three fully powered ZPM's and a new, much needed ally on their side.


	5. Chapter 5

Lara heard the beep of her communication system activating. She let out a breath and answered it.

"Hello" she simply said with bored expression on her face.

Daniel stood on the other side of the screen looking as tired as she felt.

"Hey." He said "So, we've got you the meeting and there will be no interrogation" he said with a grin "you won't have to sit in a small room with a creepy guy."

She answered "Good. Not that I wouldn't be able to take him out. So, am I clear to beam down? Not to sound selfish, but my time is valuable. There are about five planets being terrorized by Lucians now and I would like to get to them as soon as I can." she said with a serious face.

"Yes" Daniel said "You can come. We will talk to you in the conference room." He said and Lara ended the transmission.

Daniel stood in the conference room and waited. Landry, Mitchell, Sheppard and Mr Woolsey, who was asked to represent the IOA, sat in the chairs and also waited silently. There were two marines stationed at the door. After few seconds they saw the bright light of a beam and Lara stood next to the door.

* * *

"Hello" said Landry and stood up from his chair.

"Yeah, hello to you too" Lara said uncomfortably. "I thought that there won't be so many of you. She gestured to Sheppard and Mitchell and the marines. "I'm not really font of military."

Landry seem to understand and said "You have nothing to worry about. We will just talk and we have no intention in capturing you or holding you against your will" he said calmly.

"Well, that's what they all say" she said "But, I'm sure this is not the case. So, I guess you have questions for me." She said moving closer to them.

Landry gestured for her to sit in one of the chairs.

"No, I prefer to stand up." She said and moved closer to the window that showed the gate room. It would be easier to get out in case if something went wrong.

"As you wish" Landry said and sat down. Daniel did the same.

Woolsey started the conversation "Would you like to tell us about yourself? Where do you come from and how did you get the technology you posses?"

Lara let out a deep breath. "Okay. I was born on a planet that was under the control of Goa'uld. As you know they liked to enslave people and so on. My village was one of the many naquada mining villages. I survived long enough. Later when you defeated the Goa'uld we were free for some time, until the Lucian Alliance came."

"So your village is now ruled by the Alliance" Woolsey interrupted.

"Yes, it was" she said. "And not just my village, but the whole planet. It was one of the first planets under their control. They took young people who were the smartest and made them into soldiers or Alliance scientists."

"You were taken" Woolsey said again.

"Yes, I was meant to be one of the many soldiers, but I managed to prove myself and they put me in charge of one of the Ha'taks. It took me two years to get till that position." She seemed uncomfortable about talking about her past, but she went on. "The Alliance leaders were smart and careful to not let the wrong people work for them, but they made a fatal mistake." She said grinning lightly "they took me. What they didn't know was that I was in the rebellion. Our community started a rebellion group almost as soon as they took control over us. I was able to sabotage some things and get away with them."

"Did you free your people?" Woolsey asked.

"No. I only managed to destroy two Ha'taks" her face turned somehow sad. "After that I barely managed to escape. Later, when I tried to contact some of my people, I got no answer so I went to check it out. I flew a cloaked cargo ship and found that my village was destroyed. Bombed from the orbit. As some people of other villages told me, they started the rebellion. Went on with all they got…" she took a deep and a little shaky breath "..and lost. I ran away and have been on my own ever since."

Everyone looked sad and shocked of her story. Except for Woolsey.

He said "Is there someone who can verify your story? Not to be the one with no heart, but we need to know that what you are telling is the truth."

Lara looked at him "Of course. There are few villages that cooperated with mine. They can verify that the contact with it was severed six years ago."

"Wait" Daniel said "Six years? You have been on your own for that long?" he seemed stunned.

"Yes. I do not need company. There is no need to attach to things. They will only bring pain" she looked at the confused faces looking at her. "I apologise. I didn't mean to confuse you. It's just that I don't really like crowds and company, and my lifestyle is not nice and friendly. I'm usually on the move all the time."

There was a moment of silence. Landry was the first one to break it. He said "How did you acquire the Ancient technology?"

Lara focused back from the seemingly painful memories. "Ah" she said a little more cheerfully "I stumbled across it on a deserted planet. I know it will probably sound strange to you, but that's how I found it. The planet was deserted because of some kind of plague. Not the Ori one, so I took a look around and found the ship together with some pretty impressive technology. Of course it was all in very bad shape. The locals seemed to be not interested in the technology; their civilization was similar to yours in 20th century. They had no knowledge on how to reaper it so they didn't use it." She looked around the room and saw that everyone was watching her in interest, so she continued "As I knew about the Ancient technology from my work for the Alliance, I recognised it. It took me more than a day to find the light switch" she said grinning "and more than 6 months to find my way around the systems. Eventually I found out how to operate the systems. After six more exhausting months I was able to get her into orbit. After few weeks I made my first FTL jump. Embassy is more complex than anything you have seen. She uses some kind of subspace jump that is faster than a hyperspace, but not as fast as Atlantis' wormhole drive. I can get to the Pegasus in five days" she said proudly.

"Five days?" This time Sheppard talked. "It takes us three weeks to get there" he seemed surprised.

Lara went on "The ship – Embassy, is made of old technology. It is ancient, but over the years I have upgraded it with your, some Goa'uld and even few parts of Wraith technology." Daniel could see that she had put much into that ship and was very proud of it. He wondered if she would let some of their scientists to take a look at her FTL, as she called it, drive.

Lara spoke again "As a good will gesture I will let three of your people to come and examine Embassy. Maybe that will give you more trust in me."

"What about the database?" Woolsey spoke again. "Can we see it?"

"Yes" she said and took a little device out of her pocket. She pressed a button and a holographic screen appeared in the middle of the long desk. "This is the key information of Pandora's experiment and The Box." She gestured at the screen and it became full of texts in Ancient.

Landry looked at Daniel. "Can you translate it? At least roughly please?" he asked.

"Yes sure. So," he gestured to the first paragraph "it shows how she came up with the idea and the next part is the technical part of it." He turned to Lara "Can you skip to the next page?" he asked sheepishly, at which Lara only grinned and made a small wave movement with her hand. Another page of Ancient texts came up. Daniel continued "This talks about how they made it work and how they used it successfully. This is interesting" he said gesturing to a section of a text "this talks about how they used it to make ZPM's for several outposts and Atlantis. In the end.." he did the same gesture as Lara before to get the next page up ".. when the Atlantis had to leave, they took three more ZPM's for Atlantis and hid the device on another planet."

"And that is where you come in" Lara said. "They made a map full of clues, so that only someone with good Ancient knowledge would find it. I know that the first clue is supposed to be on a planet that is located in the Asgard core you have on the Odyssey." She said and looked at Landry. "As you can see, the intel is reliable. If you need further proof I will let three scientists with one marine as accompaniment up to my ship." She looked back at Daniel. "We could all benefit from this alliance. You need the ZPM's for Atlantis and let's just say that I don't want Pegasus destroyed." She looked now at Landry again "If you decide to trust me and want to get The Box, contact me. I will be in the orbit. If not, thank you for your time. I understand that Earth is in very vulnerable position now and you don't trust or believe me. If it makes it somehow easier, I also don't fully trust in people I know for less than a day, but I hope you decide to the right thing" she smiled weakly and looked at Daniel "It was very nice to meet you" she then turned to all of them and said "I shall wait for your answer." And with that she was gone.

* * *

Landry dismissed all the men except for Daniel and Woolsey. He would call the president in a minute and they would have a lot to talk about. This was a good opportunity, but they had to think about the consequences if something would go wrong. Of course he hoped nothing would, but they always had to be ready.

* * *

As Lara found herself back on the bridge she sighed. This was very tiring and she felt exhausted. She hoped that Earth's government would agree to work with her. A memory came to her mind of a Wraith feeding on a little girl. This caused a chain reaction and a full lot of memories came to her mind. "_No"_ she thought in her mind. "_No need for memories. You couldn't do anything." _With that she suppressed the memories and moved to sit in a chair. She felt her eyelids started to close. In stead of going to sleep she stood up and went to get coffee. _"No time to sleep now. I will rest when the work is done." _Right now there was much to do. Even if the SGC wouldn't go with her plan, she would get the address somehow. She had a plan B. She always had a plan B.


	6. Chapter 6

_So thank you for those who are reading this story. I have decided to take it in another direction, so I have changed the chapter 1 a little bit. No other changes will be made (hopefully). I would really appreciate it if you would take a look at chapter 1 once more. I only took out the prologue and that's all.  
_

_Enjoy _

Lara somehow managed to fall asleep in the control chair.

When she heard the beep of the comm system she woke startled. She opened the holographic screen in front of her; the message read "Can we talk. I'll come alone. –Daniel" She let out a breath and rubbed her eyes. Lara could finally feel the effects of sleep loss. She pressed on the holographic screen and Daniel instantly appeared in front of the room.

"Hey", he said looking as tired as she felt.

"Is everything ok? How is the conference going?" she was eager to know and get away.

"As much as I know they are still talking. It's been.." he looked at his watch "2 hours. They should be finished soon." He said and looked at Lara, like wanting to ask something.

"Did you want something?" she said already knowing what he wanted. "Oh, don't say. You want to look at the database." She said showing a trace of small smile.

"Yeah. That would be nice. You said that it pre-dated Atlantis, so I would just love to take a look."

Lara smiled again and moved out of the chair. She knew that this moment would come and she didn't rally mind. "Come with me then" she said and moved out of the room, into the corridor.

Daniel felt relieved that she didn't mind showing him the database. He was really curious. Until now they didn't have much knowledge of anything that old and from what he heard from Lara the database was a real gold mine. 

* * *

They walked in silence through the long hallways. Daniel admired the state the ship was in. Even though she was apparently alone on _Embassy _the ship was in a wonderful state.

After a while they came to a stop at the end of a corridor. It looked as all the others did except it didn't go on. There was single door at the end of it. Lara stepped closer and put her thumb on what looked like fingerprint recognition. Then she moved closer to the device and scanned her eye. She said "This is one of the most valuable rooms on this ship. That's why the tight security."

The panel above the door signalled green and the door opened.

What was in front of them was incredible. Daniel did not expect to see something like that.

The room in front of him was huge and oval. It was at least 5 metres high and round.

"Whoa." Was all he said.

Lara noticed his expression and said "Come on, as much as I would like to stand here and look at your surprised expression we don't have much time." Then she moved into the room and Daniel fallowed.

When they moved inside Daniel noticed the pedestal in the middle of the room. It was like the one Atlantis had in the Hologram Room. Actually it looked pretty much like the Hologram Room.

Lara stepped on the pedestal and three screens appeared in U shape in font of her.

"So," she started showing at the screen that was on the left "this is all that pre-dates Atlantis. This," she pointed at the middle one "is all between creation of Atlantis and until the Ancients left. And the last one is everything since you stepped on Atlantis." She stepped off the pedestal and the screens vanished. She gestured for Daniel to step on. He hesitated. Lara went on "Don't worry. It is perfectly safe. Go on." She said with a small smile "It's not everyday you get a chance like this."

Daniel stepped on and the screens appeared again. He pressed the left one and instantly was surrounded by new screens. "Wow. Again, this is amazing." He went on and pressed on the screen few more times. Then a whole holographic person appeared. "Pandora." Was all he said.

"Yes, it is." Lara simply stated. The woman was tall and with dark hair just like Lara's. Her eyes were deep and blue, also similar to Lara's. "She looks similar to you." He said and turned to her.

"No, I don't see it. Many people have dark hair. She looks nothing like me." Daniel felt how she tensed when he told about the resemblance.

"Go and look at other information on The Box." She said.

Daniel went on and started to read. Lara saw that he will go on and read for a long time and she didn't mind. She said "You go on and look at the database. Don't be stranger and look up whatever you want. I am going back to the bridge. I have some things to do and prepare before we, or" she said in a sarcastic voice "if your parents won't let you go; I go off to try and get the Pandora's Box." She said and gave Daniel a little smile. "There is a comm link panel next to the door in case you want something or don't know how to get back." On the last statement she grinned widely.

"I think I will be fine. Call me when you get a response from the SGC." He said and returned a smile.

Then Lara turned and walked away.

* * *

While skipping through the pages about Pandora and her Box, he looked closer to the woman. Lara really looked very much like her. Then he opened the personal information screen about Pandora and something cached his eye. It said the she had a sister named Larren. When he opened the file of Larren's hologram the only thing he could do was stare. The woman, Larren looked exactly like Lara. The same eyes and body, except Larren's hair were blond. But except for that, they were the same person. He continued to read about this Ancient woman and discovered that she was one of the first Ancients to ascend. After a while of reading, he stepped off the pedestal and started to make his way back to the bridge. He had a lot to think about.

Daniel didn't know if it was a good idea to tell Lara about his discovery. He decided to ask her about it. Daniel knew that if she really was Larren and an Ancient she might back away or others might stop her from helping them. It wasn't like they haven't met living Ancients before, but in most cases they were working behind the backs of others and weren't allowed to get involved with humans. He just hoped this was not the case. While thinking he found his way back to the bridge quite fast.

Lara was sitting in the control chair looking at her PDA. She said "Back so soon? I thought that you will want to spend more time in there."

"I found what I was looking for already." He simply said and went to stand next to her. He decided to persuade the matter of her being and Ancient.

"You remind me of someone." He simply said.

"Who, if I may ask?" she asked looking away from her console-screen.

"Pandora."

"I told you already. I don't look like her." She continued to read her PDA.

"No, but you really look like her sister, Larren"

A split second after he said it he could feel her tensing up. Her eyes turned dark with emotions and she turned her head sharply at him.

For just a moment Daniel saw surprise and pain in her blue eyes. Then, all of a sudden the emotion turned to something else. He couldn't quite place it.  
Lara said "I don't know what you are talking about…" She looked back at her screen.

"Yes you do. I saw the file. You are Larren, Pandora's sister." Daniel knew that his might cause problems, but he just had to know how she was able to go this far and help them so much without anyone stopping her.

He went on. "There are two options. Either you are still in your ascension form and the others are somehow allowing you to help us, or you like Orlin took human form with some your ancient knowledge."

"Or" she looked straight into his eyes "there is a third option. I was deascended for breaking the rules, with no memories, and started to have flashbacks a while ago." She stood up and went over to the window in front of the bridge. She said in almost whisper "There's always a third option."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"Yeah. It's all right you couldn't have. I have been having flashbacks of my ancient past, but they are short and I tend to forget them in a short while. That's how I found out about the Box. Thankfully I wrote down what I should look for before I forgot. Now I only know what is in the database. No personal memories I had a while ago"

"How long have you really been deascended?"

"3 years. I found Embassy 2 years ago." She went back to sit in the chair. "I hope we can keep this between us. If the others find out they will probably have a lot of questions, which I by the way can't answer. I know only the small things like the names of my parents and sister. I also know that I built Embassy and left it disguised. Then I ascended."

"You were one of the first." Daniel clarified.

"Yes. I was. That's enough about me. We should contact your people for information. I'm sure the conference will be over by now." When she stood up she looked again into Daniel's eyes. "Please, don't tell about me. No one knows and I'm starting fresh. My name is Lara Ayden. Not Larren. Okay?"

"Your secret is safe. I won't tell."

Lara severed the eye contact and pressed the 'beam' button.

_Again if I could remind you of chapter 1 ___

Thanks for reading this story. I feel really good that I can put my thoughts into writing. It helps me sleep at night __

And please if you could be nice and review. That would make my day! You don't have to write much. Just a simple one word would be enough. I really want to know your thoughts.


	7. Chapter 7

_Sorry for the long wait, but I didn't have time to write anything…  
I hope you like this chapter.  
R&R and Enjoy_

Lara and Daniel stood next to each other and faced Woolsey.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Daniel said "She proved it very clear that the information is reliable and it is safe. Not to mention what we can gain from the device itself!" Daniel was saying in frustration.

"All we are saying is that we can't afford to devote any more resources to this right now. We need to concentrate on the threat the Alliance poses." Woolsey answered calmly. "Miss Ayden said that she could do it on her own as well, so it is not like we are stopping the mission."

Daniel knew they could trust Lara, but the truth was, he wanted to go with her. He also wanted to find the Box and see what it holds.

Lara interrupted the conversation. "As long as I am able to access the coordinates of the planet I am looking for, I will get the Pandora's Box and deliver it to you. My ship does not need power, and the ZPM's are of no other use to me. I know that Atlantis needs the power and Pegasus needs Atlantis. As long as you trust me with the address and the mission I don't require any backup from your soldiers or scientists." She said.

Daniel had to hand it to her. The way she spoke was so diplomatic and, well, Ancient.

"We trust you." Was all Woolsey said.

"All right then. I shall be onboard the Embassy doing pre-flight checks. Send me the coordinates as soon as you can. Also I will contact you before I depart."

Woolsey nodded and left the room. Lara turned to Daniel. "It's a shame you couldn't come. I think that you would have enjoyed the search as I know that you like all that defines the word 'Ancient'." She said giving a little smile. "I will be in the orbit for at least and hour, if your parents let you go, you are most welcome aboard Embassy."

"I'll try and talk to Woolsey. He owes me a few favours so hopefully I'll get to join you."

"If you don't, it was very nice meeting you, and I hope that our previous deal still stands." She said and took out the little PDA she carried in her pocket.

"No-one will know about your past Lara. Contact us before you leave" he said and left the room looking for Woolsey.

Lara got back to Embassy and started the system checks.

* * *

Daniel really wanted to join Lara. He knew that Pandora's Box was a valuable thing, and he wanted to know what else Lara's database held. He knocked on Landry's door and entered. Woolsey was there already talking to general. "Gentlemen, may I ask you to reconsider your decision about sending Lara alone?" he asked, knowing that the answer would be no.

"Dr Jackson, I know that you want to join her, but it is one matter sending her alone, with nothing more than a single planet address, or her with the address and a civilian, and as I told you, we can't afford to send any military backup." Landry said.

"So you don't trust her, I understand that, but I trust her." Daniel said trying to convince them.

"You know her less than 24 hours, why do you trust her." Woolsey asked.

Daniel didn't know how to tell them the truth without telling about Lara being and ex Ancient. "I just do. Besides, you did a background check on her and she was clear. Please, you know how much it means to me. Also the database contains many pre-Atlantis entries which could be useful to us." Daniel looked at the unconvinced Landry and Woolsey. "I know you don't trust her yet, but I do. I can't tell you why, but if you trust me, you can trust her." With that he put on his most convincing expression and waited for an answer.

Woolsey spoke up. "General, if he trusts her maybe we should let him go. As much of a risk as it is, Dr Jackson is the best expert of Ancient technology and if the device was Ancient it might be easier for both of them to work together. It would also mean that he is back sooner." Woolsey said and Daniel felt that a little hope was brought back to him. If Woolsey was convinced to let him go, Landry hopefully would be too.

After a pause that felt like a lifetime Landry looked from his desk to Daniel. "All right. But you need to hourly checkups, and you should also be armed. Just in case." Landry said. "Dismissed. Go, inform her, pack up and come and see me before you depart."

"Thank you, sir" Daniel said and went to his lab. He took out the communication crystal Lara had given him and plugged it into his computer. He typed in "I'm good to join you. I'll contact you when I'm ready for beam-up". Then he started packing some most necessary things.

* * *

Lara was almost done with all the pre-departure checks when she got the message from Daniel. _Good. _She thought. This was going to make it easier. Her plan was that after she would help them to get Atlantis back on track, she would go and take care of the Alliance who were bothering, endangering and enslaving her allies and friends. Afterwards she would get to Pegasus and help to fight the Wraith.

She quickly finished the checks and decided to set up some extras. It wasn't everyday that Embassy had to crew members aboard. Lara activated a subroutine that immediately transported and wired in two other consoles on the left and right side of her chair. This was a thing she didn't do very often. For that matter she enjoyed the empty room with just the chair. It gave her the feeling of Atlantis' chair room. After she checked that both consoles were properly connected up she leaned back against the back of her chair and closed her eyes for minute. The sleep deprivation was really catching up with her, but it didn't matter. There were far more pressing things to do than sleep. She waited for Daniel to contact her.

* * *

After he packed some notebooks on Ancient language and writing which Daniel was sure he wouldn't need, he went to armoury and took a P-90, ammunition and the usual sidearm. It had been a while since he had gone to a mission, because Daniel had spent the best part of last month studying Atlantis. He took the rest of his things which included a backpack with some protein bars and water and went to Landry's office. Daniel knocked and stepped in.

"General, I'm ready to go." He stated.

"Good. I need you to take this transmitter just in case. You should have it activated all the time, so we know where you are. If for some reason it goes offline for more than an hour, we'll know that something is wrong and I will send help. Also check in every hour and report your progress." Landry said and handed him the small piece of equipment.

"Will do General. And thank you." Daniel said and turned to leave.

"Good luck and be careful. You don't know what you're getting yourself into yet.

Daniel nodded and sent a message to Lara that he is ready to go.

Lara received the message and after a second Daniel stood in front of her.

"Hey" she said and gave him a little smile. "Your people sent me the planet's location and I've calculated the course. It will take us 3 hours to get there."

"Not too bad then" Daniel responded simply.

Lara continued. "You can choose. Shields and life-support or weapons" she said and motioned to the two new consoles Daniel noticed in the room.

"I'll take shields and life-support. Somehow I think because it is your ship you should be responsible for weapons" He said and put his gear next to the console he knew was for shields.

Lara smiled. "Good decision." She then hit a button on the holographic screen in front of her. "Stargate command this is Lara Ayden. We are ready to depart."

"You have a go." Said Landry. "Good luck and keep out of trouble. Landry out."

Lara closed the comms and said to Daniel. "Again you might feel a little bit of dizziness from the FTL jump. Don't worry; it will stop after a few jumps."

"Okay." He said and took off his jacked. It was warm in there.

"Ah, and tell me if you feel like passing out. That might happen as well." She said and Daniel remembered how he felt after firs meeting Lara.

* * *

Two hours and a bit later Daniel came out of the hologram room. Lara had allowed him to go back and look through more information about the Pandora's Box and what they had to face to get it.

He wasn't surprised that it would be hard. The Ancients never made it easy. The memory for the Merlin's device came to his mind.

From what he understood they had to find a book that would tell them where the next planet was and what they would have to look for there. He knew it sounded like a lame adventure movie, but it only sounded easy. They would definitely have to go through many traps and solve encrypted messages before they even got to the second planet.

He wondered back to the bridge where Lara was still sitting in the control chair. Her hands were moving around on the holo-screen and it looked like she was running a sensor sweep.

"Long range sensors are not picking up any activity. Looks like we're on our own." She said. "We'll drop out in 1 minute. Be ready just in case." She said and Daniel went to sit at his console.

"We're out of FTL in 4,3,2,1, now" she said and Daniel felt a wave of dizziness.

"Short range sensors are picking up one planet, no human life. The temperatures are a few degrees above zero. It is habitable, but no Stargate." She said and again typed away on the screen. After a short moment a map came on and the screen widened.

"See the tunnel system below the planet?" she said and motioned towards the network of smaller and bigger tunnels. "I bet that the thing we are looking is down there."

"Are there any visible entrances?" Daniel asked.

"Yes." Lara said and motioned to the screen. "Here, but it is underwater, here" she motioned to a new place "which looks okay, except for the fact that the volcanic activity is huge and there might be a volcanic eruption any minute," she turned the planet on the screen "and here. This looks good. The temperatures are okay, and looks like the volcanic activity is normal too." She said and looked to Daniel. "What do you think?"

"I think we should check it out." He said and got up from his chair. Lara closed the screen and did the same thing. "I'm going to get my gear and meet you here in 5 minutes. We should move fast and knowing that the Ancients are fans of difficult and headache-giving things, we should be careful." She said and took a little PDA, similar to hers to Daniel. "Take this. It includes most of data you'll need for this and codes for contacting Embassy. If there is any other information you need, type it in and the data will be transfered to you." She said and walked out of the room.

Five minutes later Lara reappeared in the bridge with a sidearm and Ancient stunner.

"Ready to go?" Lara said.

"Yes." Daniel simply answered.

A second later they were standing in a forest looking at an entrance of a huge cave.

"Looks like this is it." Lara said.

"Ladies first." Daniel offered with a small smile. Lara returned the smile and started to move towards the dark cave.

_Thank you for reading. I know there wasn't much action in this chapter, but there will be in the next one. _


End file.
